Fill a large pot with water, place over high heat and bring up to boil; add a table spoon of salt and the green beans. Cook for about 5 minutes, the beans should still be crisp. Drain the beans and place them in an ice bath to stop them from cooking. Reserve the beans while you start the onions.

In a large skillet add the butter and olive oil and heat until the butter has melted. Add the onions and stirring frequently until the onions caramelize. Add the cooked cooled green beans and fresh, and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and add the toasted almond to the top.

I had a blast as usual doing Good Morning Texas. Everyone is always so warm and friendly, I'm starting to feel like family. Today I was tasked with coming up with different Thanksgiving menu items. Dressing is a staple at any dinner table, but crawfish dressing is something not many are accustomed to. My little Creole Grandmother first introduced me to this Louisianan spin on dressing, now, nothing else will do. I tweaked the recipe a bit by adding a hot ground breakfast sausage meat to the mixture. The added spicy and meat really worked well. Check out the recipe below.

Ingredients:

10 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 large onion, chopped

2 small green bell peppers, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 cups crumbled cornbread

2 cups dried and cubed dressing mix

1 package frozen peeled, cooked crawfish tails (thawed and washed)

1 pound spicy breakfast sausage (cooked)

3 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

salt to taste

Directions:

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add carrots, celery, onion and bell pepper, and sauté for 10 or until tender. Add in the crawfish and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

In a large bowl mix together all ingredients and 2 cups of the broth. Add the remaining broth as needed to get a moist and mushy texture. Spoon into a lightly greased baking dish.

Cream sugar and cream cheese until well mixed. Add sour
cream, marshmallow cream and vanilla and mix well. Add eggs one at a time
mixing well after each egg. Separate mixture in 3rds. In one bowl add yellow
food coloring by the drop until you get desired color and repeat with the
orange food color in the second bowl. Spoon the mixture in the cheesecake pan,
yellow at the bottom, orange in the middle and white on top. Bake until
cheesecake rises and is firm but has a slight jiggle still. The white should
not turn brown. Once done baking allow leave the cheesecake in the oven and
allow it to cool for 30 minutes. Place in fridge overnight.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, marshmallow cream until
combined. Slowly mix in the heavy cream and allow to mix until it stiffens like
frosting. Top cheesecake with whip cream peaks and garnish with candy corn.

In a large skillet
heat 3 tbls of butter. Once the butter is very hot and it starts to turn brown
put your steak in. Allow the steak to cook undisturbed on the first side for 3
minutes, but continuously spoon butter the hot butter on top of the steak.
(butter bath)

After 3 min you should have a nice crust on
the bottom. Flip the steak and repeat the butter bath for 3 more minutes.

The yogurt is really good with this because of
all the spice on the steak. 1 cucumber- peel it and remove the seeds, then dice
small. 1/4 cup diced red onion, 1 tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp white pepper 1/2
cup of yogurt and salt to taste. Just mix everything together.

Mushrooms and shallots
- slice mushrooms and shallots. I used 2 tbls of the left over butter from the
steak and 1 tbls of new butter, once the butter got hot I added 1 tsp fresh
chopped rosemary & fresh thyme. I sautéed in the hot butter and added a
little salt and pepper. At the very end I added a few sprigs of fresh Marjoram
herb.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Kaylei and I had a blast making these fruit kabobs. Things for a little messy, but that is all part of the fun. Things got extra exciting when our neighbor brought over a fruit shape cutter. These kabobs are the perfect treat for a hot summer day. Our plan is to freeze some and take them to the pool with us on Saturday.

What goes well with fruit kabobs you ask...Dips! Check out the 4 recipes below.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

(The recipe for this cake is inside the Baker’s German Chocolate bars. I add my own touch to this recipe by baking the cake on flat cookie sheets and using a cookie cutter to cut the cake once it cools so that I can make 2 layer mini cakes.)

1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER'S GERMAN'S Sweet Chocolate

1/2 cup water

4 eggs, separated

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

Instructions;

HEAT oven to 350°F.

COVER bottoms of 2 cookies sheets with waxed paper; spray sides with cooking spray. Microwave chocolate and water in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

BEAT egg whites in small bowl with mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form; set aside. Mix flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating until well blended after each addition.

BAKE 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Immediately run small spatula around cakes in pans. Cool cakes in pans 15 min.; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Spread Coconut-Pecan Filling and Frosting between cake layers and onto top of cake.

Coconut-Pecan Filling and Frosting

4 egg yolks

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

1-1/2 tsp.vanilla

1-1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine

1 pkg. (7 oz.) BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut (2-2/3 cups)

1-1/2 cups chopped PLANTERS Pecans

BEAT egg yolks, milk and vanilla in large saucepan with whisk until well blended. Add sugar and butter; cook on medium heat 12 min. or until thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Slice eggs in half, remove the yolk and place it in a separate bowl. Add miracle whip, mustard, seasonings and liquid smoke to the egg yolks and beat with a hand mixer until it’s smooth. Place the yolk filling in a piping bag then add it to the halved egg whites. Top the mixture with the brisket, chives and an extra dusting of paprika.

Kitchen's Joi ~A mothers memoir to her daughter

Dear Kaylei Joi,

It is and always will be a pleasure to watch you grow and develop your passions. My heart was touched when you asked me to save my recipes for you. It brought back memories of my Great Grandmother "Big Momma" recipes and how I wish we would wrote them down. You will still have the recipe box that I have been keeping, but this website is dedicated to you baby girl. Remember to always be nice to your brother, even if he isn't nice to you. I love you more than words can say, and I can't wait to see you cook hun.​